Let’s figure out the ways to make your home healthier.
When it comes to improving our health, we tend to focus on nutrition and exercise. And we spend less time focusing on how our environment can affect our bodies. Our home is where we spend a lot of our time, so it’s important to figure out ways to make our home healthier. Whether it means cleaning up more often or removing harmful toxins, paying attention to our living environment can have an effect on not only our long-term health but even how good we feel in the moment.
Everyone’s living space is different, and there are some aspects you can’t control. But you can make a few easy tweaks that can help improve the health of your home. If you want to clean up your house or apartment and make it a safer environment, consider these 10 ways to make your home healthier.
Control The Dust:
It’s not uncommon for people’s homes or apartments to be hotbeds of dust, whether it’s piling up in the corners of your rooms, under your bed and on your pillows, or on that untouched bookshelf. Chronic exposure to dust mites can cause allergies and asthma. According to the American Lung Association, be sure to vacuum frequently, change your bedding and pillowcases often, and reduce the humidity in your house.
Get An Air Purifier:
Good health is making sure you’re breathing in clean air. Air pollution significantly affects our health. Most recently, fine particulate matter has been linked to not only lung issues but heart disease. Investing in a state-of-the-art air purifier can help mitigate the risk, although sometimes the particles are too small to be filtered out.
Avoid Chemical-Based Products:
Avoid the use of chemical pesticides or chemical-based cleaners. Use essential oils, basic soap and water, or plant-based products. Toxic chemicals in cleaners have been linked to a myriad of health problems. It may aggravate asthma, and maybe carcinogens. Other good natural cleaning solutions include vinegar, baking soda, and lemon.
Control Your Light:
Light pollution significantly interferes with sleep. If you live in a city environment, get shades, get an eye mask, and do whatever it takes to block out the light. Bad sleep is linked to obesity, cancers, memory loss and mental illness.
Kitchen Cleaning:
If you are trying to maintain a healthy diet or lifestyle, rid your pantries of all tempting, empty-calorie junk food. If you keep ‘bad’ food in your home, you will eat it. A study from Cornell University found that people who kept cereal and soda on their countertops were unhealthier than people who left out fruit instead.
Plant A Garden:
Plant some trees around your property, or if you don’t have the space, start a small garden. People who live in areas with more green space faceless crime, less vandalism and tend to be happier overall.
Get A Pet:
Need a reason to finally adopt that dog or cat? A study published in the Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology & Physiology concluded that pet ownership is associated with positive health benefits. It improves mood and emotional state, lowers blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular risk.
Filter Your Tap Water:
If you’re used to drinking tap water directly from the sink, ensure your water isn’t contaminated. Although your local water company filters tap water, it still contains contaminants such as lead, chlorine, E. coli, and pesticides, according to WebMD. Getting a filter- whether it’s a pitcher that goes into your fridge or one that attaches to your faucet- can help remove these contaminants.
Ditch The Teflon:
Don’t use non-stick cookware, which exposes household members to toxic fumes from the synthetic polymers used to make non-stick. Instead, cook with cast iron or stainless steel.
Store Your Food In Glass Not Plastic:
When putting away leftovers, use glass containers instead of plastic, which contain toxic chemicals that can wreak havoc on your hormones and even cause cancer? Plastic leeches toxins into food you consume destroy our precious environment. Glass is infinitely reusable and recyclable, and it is inert, so it doesn’t leach.
Making these changes can help prevent you from getting sick as well as protect your health in the long run.
